Much Assembly Required
by wicked-nachos-09
Summary: Shannon and Stella spend some time putting together furniture for the impending arrival of their first child.


Just a little one shot for all you deprived people. I'm working on THL but school is kicking my arse.

/

Shannon was rocking back and forth comfortably with her feet on the foot rest, attempting to read the map-sized instruction sheet past her protruding belly to Stella. She was just passing the eight month mark of her pregnancy with their first child, and according to her girlfriend, despite the less than professional items of clothing she had taken to wearing, she was absolutely glowing.

"And then you have to..." she trailed off, having to turn her map and fold it several times over.

"Fuck!" came from Stella, as she knelt behind one end of the half built crib.

She was met with an equally matched tone of, "Language!"

The brunette staggered to her feet, holding her now throbbing thumb between her teeth and glaring at Shannon. Her girlfriend was sitting in the rocking chair sitting in the corner, a grin on her face as she toyed with the flimsy piece of paper covered in assembly instructions. She dropped the hammer she had been using with obvious disdain, and tripped over the cardboard box before she actually managed to make it to the safety of the floor next to the mahogany rocker.

"You're going to make such a great mother. Bugger all sympathy," Stella commented, in between sucking on her thumb and shaking her hand roughly to the side. "Remind me again, why we decided to build these things at home, rather than getting one of the delivery guys to do it?"

"Because that costs extra and it's all about the feeling of accomplishment. You built the crib that he will sleeping in," Shannon said, letting her hand reach out to brush a few sweaty strands of Stella's hair out of her face. The brunette looked up at her with tired and hazy eyes.

"No, I didn't build it. I put it together with what looks like Asian instructions," she explained, looking over the arm rest at the piece of paper in her girlfriends hands.

"If you don't think you can do it, for the sake of our child, maybe we just call Christian. He has three kids; he should know how to put this together."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Stella said, standing up to put her hands on her hips. "There will be no dissing my manhood here, 'kay?"

She had turned around to continue her endless quest, when a small gasp came from her girlfriend. "He's kicking," Shannon smiled proudly.

Their unborn baby hadn't been an overly active child, so any chance they had when he started kicking, the two women became rather excited. Unlike her girlfriend, Stella didn't share the same level of enthusiasm.

_The two of them were lounging around in the early hours of Stella's day off. The brunette was on her stomach, admiring the occasional giggle that came from Shannon as she pressed kisses randomly over the baby bump._

_It wasn't long until she ended up with her ear against Shannon's belly button in her attempt to hear the baby's heartbeat. A hand was running through her hair encouragingly._

_"Ow," she said after a moment, jerking back startled._

_"What?" Shannon asked, running a hand over her enlarged stomach._

_"He just kicked me in the head!"_

_Shannon let out a hearty laugh that was drowned out by chuckling kiss. She was still rubbing the side of her head as she broke away._

_"That was mean, Baby J!"_

_"Baby J?" Shannon asked with one eyebrow raised. Nicknames had never been high on her list unless they were coming from Stella and in the privacy of their home. She was adamant that their son was going to be called by his birth name, not a nickname their colleagues had concocted while she was on maternity leave._

"Stel, he's not going to kick you in the head again!" Shannon exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. Cause my head is not going anywhere near your stomach until he is born."

"Don't you have a crib to finish building, _mum_?" Shannon asked, looking up

"Putting together, _mummy_," Stella corrected, requesting a kiss and receiving one.

The rest of the nursery was finished. The walls had been painted white after much deliberation over who would wash the white walls after their son had decided to decorate his room, which only made the furniture and strewn cardboard boxes stand out even more. His name was on the front of his door, and above his bed, while there was a small pile of stuffed animals across the top of the chest of drawers and the toy chest.

"Well come on then!" Shannon smirked.

"Busting my balls for you, Jack Henry!" Stella bent over to stare down her unborn baby, her forehead meeting the side of Shannon's stomach. A tiny foot connected with her forehead. "That's it, you're grounded."

Shannon couldn't stop laughing as Stella went back to completing her task of putting together the baby's crib.

"Not even born and you're already grounded. Definitely going to be a troublemaker, just like your mother," Shannon said, rubbing her stomach and pulling the instructions back towards her face. "Now where were we?"

/


End file.
